There is a gap in the recording of a county civil-service commission hearing last week, an hour of testimony that was not preserved because the official in charge of taping the proceeding failed to properly activate the recorder.

Commission attorney Tom Harron took full responsibility for the error.

“I operate the recording system and I think that when I tried to hit the record button, I either missed it or pressed too lightly on the mouse,” he said. “This is a mistake that I should not have made.”

Civil-service officials alerted both sides in the dispute to the mistake Thursday afternoon. The issue will be discussed when the hearing resumes sometime next month.

The case pits former county investment officer Jeffrey Baker against the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association, which oversees the $8 billion fund that serves about 36,000 current and retired county employees.

The pension agency fired Baker in July after he raised questions about investment decisions he said violated risk limits adopted by the Board of Retirement.

Baker had filed a whistle-blower-retaliation complaint in May, months after he first told his boss, the internal-affairs office and two board members that he believed the investments exceeded allowable risks.

The Watchdog obtained a copy of Baker’s whistle-blower complaint and reported the allegations on May 21. Baker was placed on leave three days later and later fired after an investigation that focused on his communication with the U-T.

Weeks after The Watchdog reported on Baker’s calculation that treasuries and high-yield bond investments were outside the adopted risk budget, the pension system consultant reached similar calculations. The agency then raised the limits, bringing the securities into compliance.

Some of the testimony that was not recorded included statements made under oath by portfolio strategist Lee Partridge, the Texas consultant who serves as the pension fund’s chief investment officer.

At one point in his testimony, Partridge was asked about a report he gave to the board in September.

That report, concerning the portfolio as of June 30, stated that all of the fund’s investments were within adopted risk limits. However, the board did not raise its risk limits until July. The lower caps were in place as of June 30, and the investments therefore were not within the established limits.

“This may have been reported in error,” Partridge testified under cross-examination by Baker’s lawyer, Michael Aguirre. “We should have used the old numbers.”

That quotation comes from The Watchdog’s notes at the hearing, as the tape is missing that exchange.

Pension officials and Partridge declined to discuss the recording error.

“We have no comment at this time and reserve judgment until we have the facts as to what did or did not happen,” spokeswoman Michelle Butler wrote in a statement. “We believe in the hearing process and will work with the commission toward a fair and just outcome.”